


Davy Jones Calls You (Fall Asleep)

by FrozenHearts



Category: Aquaman (2018), Justice League (2017)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Depression, Drabble, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Half-Siblings, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Lost Love, Not Really Character Death, Pre-Justice League (2017), Sad, Sad Ending, Sibling Rivalry, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, True Love, established relationships - Freeform, possible major character death, this is just really sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-08-22 08:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8279117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenHearts/pseuds/FrozenHearts
Summary: The seas gave no mercy, and this time was no different.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is something of a character study for the upcoming Aquaman movie.

They had been on the shores of Iceland when they struck.

The waves towered over them, menacing and dark as they appeared, scrabbling for purchase on the sharp rocks, wielding their tridents like Trojans heading to battle. The skies darkened as they grappled, skin slick with sweat and salt and blood. At first, Arthur was sure he had bested his half-brother, tossing him back to the oceans for his troubles.

Black Manta, however, had come up from behind.

And then Mera was gone. Dragged to the sandy depths, her red hair splayed about her like a halo, Arthur saw her just before Manta dove into the water. Limp she was in Black Manta's arms, and no matter what Arthur did, he found himself unable to move, helplessly reaching for his beloved as Black Manta stole her away. The waves lapped at the sand, bringing in pebbles and broken shells, but nothing else.

Not Mera, at least.

So Arthur searched. First he toured the majority of Iceland, although he knew the corals and the schools woudn't be very helpful, as they had just arrived and were not used to visitors. The islands of Hawaii were null and void, as they were on the other side of the waters, but Arthur went anyway. His limbs ached as he covered miles and acres and everything else in-between. He dug through the ocean floors and ripped through the flora that floated lazily by him.

Mera had disappeared. Just like that, Black Manta and his half-brother, Orm, had taken the one thing he truly cared about in all the realms. What being the King of Atlantis and wielding the trident of Triton couldn't bring. What Neptune and Poseidon could never promise.

His true love. His other half. Arthur had heard humans use this term to describe loved ones before, and he had always thought it silly, but now, he realized, as he found himself in Maine, that it had some semblance. Mera was his soul mate. It was rather simple, and Arthur thought himself a fool for even thinking like a human. But here he was, sitting in Maine, after years of searching, and for what?

Love was a funny thing. Orm and Manta would pay for what they did.

The seas gave no mercy, and this time was no different.

\-----

Arthur found himself rather bitter, as he stayed in Maine for years to come, shacking up in a dingy motel by the beach. He liked the water, content with watching the tide come in as he sat on his porch. Sometimes he'd watch families walk by, children building sandcastles, collecting shells. Others would lounge in the sand, or bring their pets.

He could still see Mera sometimes. If a woman with red hair walked by, he'd have to steel himself before going out to realize that it was not her. Green sea glass that children would show him reminded him of her armor, strong and gleaming as she broke through the surface of the water, the droplets hanging from her lashes like leaves from their branches.

After a while, Arthur simply didn't leave his shack, save for the occasional dip in the ocean, the one connection to Atlantis and Mera that he still had left. The families had stopped coming to the beach, and the children had stopped showing him their shells, the dogs no longer nipping playfully at his heels if he walked along the shore.

Sometimes, though, he'd open his front door to find a neat line of sea glass, a rainbow of secrets, carefully treading on his fragile state more than they already had.

\-----

Sometimes, Arthur would wake up in a cold sweat. His blankets would be tangled in his legs and his hair plastered to his neck and face. He had long since decided not to cut his hair, a way to keep track of how long Mera had been gone. Arthur knew if she were here, she'd playfully tug at the ends and say he should cut it.

He could sometimes hear her say it at night, air warm on his ear, the feeling of lips against his dampened skin and he'd turn over only to find the bed empty.

Fingers digging into his shoulders as he hugged himself, Arthur sat up in bed once more, the light of the dawn slipping in through his open door. Honestly, he had forgotten to leave the door closed after his swim the other night. He didn't care.

Forcing himself out of bed, he got dressed, going into the town. He didn't mind it much, but the locals weren't as friendly as they had been when he first arrived.

Scratch that.

They pitied him.

Arthur remembered an old fisherman he met while swimming one day, the man watching curiously as Arthur emerged gracefully from the water with a dolphin jumping at his side, its squeals of joy echoing across the dark glassy waters. He hadn't said anything, simply gave him a nod hello and went about his business. Arthur liked that; that a total stranger was nice enough not to say anything, as if there was some unspoken connection between them.

Sometimes, they would share stories. The fisherman would tell Arthur of his wife long-dead, of how his grandchildren were growing up and the aches and pains he experienced that came along with his medications prescribed by those quacks that dared to call themselves doctors. In return, Arthur would regale him with tales of splendor- men living at the bottom of the ocean in castles made of coral, sharks and manatees working alongside homo sapiens, ocean currents bringing new adventure at every new crevice and cave found. He told the fisherman of half-siblings and long dead gods and forever nemesis'. He'd tell stories of love and jealousy and battles of will against good and evil.

The fisherman always sat and listened, a sad smile on his face as Arthur recounted his past.

Once in a while, Arthur would pause in the middle of his story, listening hard. Once in a while, it was almost as if Mera was there, laughing as Arthur tread the water, the old fisherman sitting in his boat while fish floundered and otters flopped into his boat, cuddling and calling for his attention. He thought he could hear her voice, whispering slight corrections and funny jokes into his ear, and he was grateful that the fisherman waited patiently for him to finish, content with sitting in silence for the time being until Arthur found his bearings.

Arthur was grateful that the fisherman didn't ask questions when he cried one day, instead, inviting him into his boat to cry with him.

**Author's Note:**

> This is all guesswork in regards to the Aquaman movie.


End file.
